I tend to make conversation with a lot of strangers in the bookstore, it is part of having good customer service skills. Normally it is nothing of consequence, just a bit of small talk here and there to keep things interesting.
However, I once had a conversation with a customer about sisters that has stayed with me all this time.
She was in town visiting her sister, and mine had just moved to Boston for school, leaving me in a weird state of emotional despondence. Her big sister had also moved far away for school, so she knew just how I felt. She told me to love and treasure my sister because sisters are the best friends you are born with, and being apart never really gets easier.
I very nearly cried in the store.
My sister and I did not get along very much when we were kids. She is four years older than me, and we are polar opposites in pretty much everything.
We didn’t, and still don’t, have any of the same interests. When she was in the midst of her crazy mixed up teenage years, I was still a little kid to her, and we fought pretty much every day.
We didn’t start getting close until I was about 18, and even then, things were a little rocky. Despite the constant fighting, bickering and yelling, she still is one of the most influential people in my life. She taught me how to read (using Harry Potter—bless her!), and in doing so introduced me to what would become what I am most passionate about.
When I was in kindergarten, my sister was in fourth grade. My birthday is in October, so I was only four years old when I started school while most kids are five. I was a shy little kid, and my sister was so worried that I wouldn’t make friends that she visited me everyday during recess so I wouldn’t be lonely. At day care she made sure that no one bothered me, and I made sure no one messed with her. If anyone made her cry they’d have to answer to me (and she cries so much). No matter what was going on, I knew that she always had my back growing up, even if she often had a funny way of showing it.
Let's just say she likes to keep me humble.
As an adult, she has become my barometer for everything. She still teaches me important lessons, like how to stay on top of bills and how to put gas in my car before my gas-light comes on.
She is smart, hard working, altruistic and above all kind: a true Hufflepuff (my virulent Slytherin soul could never!). She’s a real life Disney princess except she’s also a secret badass, completely at home in an emergency room.
She’s back in Boston kicking butt and taking names in PA school and there is no one more proud of her than me.
That being said, I miss her.
A whole lot.
We talk now more than we ever did before, we just have to get a little creative about it. Our snapchat streak is legendary, and no social media chat is free from us.
By the time we’re both done with school I know that our different career aspirations will take us even farther away from each other.
I know this is part of growing up.
But even if I end up on a different planet, I know that my big sister will be looking out for me, ready with a sassy gif to send for any occasion and an embarrassing story or two to keep my head from getting too big.
#annatomyelsa
